Ash conveyer



C. F. ZIMMERMANN ASH CQNVEYER Filed June 10, 2 57 ;0 r w June 16, 1925.

Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL F. ZIM'MERMANN, G'F CHICihGO, IL LIN 01S, ASSIGNOR TO CONVEYOBS CORPORA- TION OF AMERICA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

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Application tiled June :10, 1821. Serial No. 476,415.

To all rel-mm it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, CARL F. Zianunnnmms,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county oi Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful lmproyement in Ash Conveyors, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

. My invention relates to steam ash conveyers and contemplates the provision of means for automatically controlling the supply on": the spray water-used in the various parts of the conveyor system.

in ash conveyer systems of the type herein shown, it is necessary and desirable that the spray water be supplied only when the conveyer is in use-that is, when steam is being admitted to the .conveyer conduit for the purpose of propelling ashes therethrough. In accordance with my invention and by reason of a certain novel arrangement and construction of partshereinafter described, the spray water is automatically turned on when steam is admitted to the conveyor conduit and automaticallyshnt off when the operation of the system is =discontinned byshutting ofi' the supply of steam.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view of an ash conveyor system embodying my invention and Figure 2 is an axial sectional view of the valve which constitutes a salient feature of the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, reference numerals 10 and 11 designate lower and upper horizontal runs of the conduit of a conventional ash conveyor of the steam type, these horizontal runs being connected by a riser 12, communication between the riser and the horizontal runs of the conduit being afforded through right angle elbows 18. The lowerhorizontal nun oi the conduit is provided with one or more ash intake hoppers 14, which are located in front of or in immediate proximity to the fire boxes of furnace 15. I have deemed it necessary to illustrate but one of the hoppers in the drawing. The upper horizontal runot the conduit discharges into an ash tank 16 which may be of any suitable type or .con struction having a wash vent 17.

As the general mode of operation of steam ash conveyors is now well known, it will sutiice to say that theashes to be deposited in tank 16 are admitted to the conveyor conduit at the hoppers 1,4 and arecaused to travel through the conduit by admitting steam to the conduit, as, for instance, by steam nozzles 17, which extendinto elbows l3 and discharge in the direction of'travel of the conveyed ashes. Nozzles 17 are herein illustrated'as being connected with the upper and lower ends of a steam pipelS, which in turn is connected with one end of steam supply pipe 19 the other end of .which leads to any suitable source of steam pressure supply, as, for instance, the boiler H associated with one of the furnaces, the ashes from which are handledby the conveyer. The supply of steam to nozzles 17' is controlled by valve 20. It will be understood .that the lower horizontal run of the vent 17, where, by negotiating baflies 24-25, 1

and by being subjected to water supply from nozzles 26 -427, they are nelieved of their entrained ash dust and other solid matter. Nozzles 26 and 27 derive their water supply through a branch water pipe 29, the flow of water through which may be shut off if desired by operating the normally open valve 30. The spray water fromfnoz zles 26 and 27 and the ash dust and other solid matter washed .outof the vented gases collects in drain pan 31 and escapes through drain pipe 3 2. It will be understood that so far asmy present invention is concerned, the particular form of wash vent is of no importance, since there are a great many satisfactory forms of wash vent that are satisfactory for my purpose.

Notwithstanding the fact that the steam from nozzles 11-17 serves to moisten the conveyed ashes as they travel through the r it) lit) conveyer conduit, it is oftentimes desirable to provide additional means for moistening the conveyed ashes as they travel through the conveyer conduit. lVith this consideration in mind, I have provided conduit riser 11 with a water spray insert 33 which is preferably of the type shown and described in United States Letters Patent #1,342,167, granted to Lorne A. Grifiin on June 1st, 1920. The insert 33 is provided with a water spray nozzle 34, which is adapted to discharge a sheet of water spray across the path of the conveyed ashes and is supplied with water through branch water pipe 35. The branch water pipe last mentioned is illustrated as being provided with a normally open manually controlled valve 36.

The branch water pipes 29 and 35 communicate with a water supply pipe 37, which in turn communicates with the city water main or other source of water under pressure. Interposed in pipe 37 is a control valve 38, which acts to admit water to branch pipes 29 and 35 when steam is injected into the conveyer conduit, and which acts automatically to shut ofi? the supply of water when the supply of steam to the conduit is discontinued.

Control valve 38 is provided with the water inlet and outlet ports 40 and 39 which are separated by the apertured wall 41. The wall 41 is provided with a valve seat 42. The flow of water through the apertured wall 41 is normally prevented by a valve member 43, which is provided with an insert of yielding material adapted properly to cooperate with seat 42. Valve member 43 is carried upon one end of a valve rod 44, the other end of which carries a piston which operates within a cylinder 45. One end of the cylinder 45 communicates with the chamber afforded by dome 46, while the other end of said cylinder communicates with intake port 40 through passage 47. The piston operating in cylinder 45 com prises a cup leather 48, which is clamped between nut 49 and the adjacent flanged end of a sleeve 50. Aligned with the cylinder 45 is a smaller cylinder 51 having one end communicating directly with cylinder 45 and its other end communicating directly with outlet 39. Operating in cylinder 51 is a piston comprising cup leather 52 which is clamped in position by sleeves and 53. Dome 46 is connected by pipe 54 with steam supply pipe 19 at a point intermediate control valve 20 and the steam nozzles. If desired, pipe 54 may be provided, with a normally controlled valve 55.

Normally there is no steam pressure in dome 46 and valve member 43 is normally held closed because the combined areas of valve member 43 and the pistons in cylinders 45 and 51, which are subject to water pressure tending to seat the valve member,

are greater than the areas of valve member 43 and the piston in cylinder 45 which are subject to water pressure tending to unseat the valve member. However, as soon as valve 20 is opened to supply steam to nozzles 17-17, steam under pressure is admitted to dome 46 and valve member 43 is moved to the left (Figure 2) to establish communication between the Water inlet and outlet ports 40 and 39. Thus water is supplied to spray nozzles 2627 and spray nozzle 34 so long as valve 20 is open. As soon as valve 20 is closed the pressure within dome 46 no longer exists and valve member 43 is again seated for the reasons hereinbefore assigned.

It will be seen that I have provided an ash conveyer system wherein the supply of spray water is controlled automatically, being turned on when the conveyer is in operation and being shut off when the operation of the conveyer is discontinued. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A steam ash conveyer system comprising a collecting receptacle for the ashes, a conveyer conduit discharging the ashes into said receptacle, a wash vent leading from said collecting receptacle, water spray nozzles discharging into said wash vent, a plurality of steam nozzles discharging into said conveyer conduit to impel the travel of ashes through said conduit, a steam supply pipe connected to said steam nozzles, means for controlling the flow of steam through said steam supply pipe, a water supply pipe connected to said water spray nozzles, a control valve in said water supply pipe comprising a normally closed movable valve element, an expansible chamber having its movable wall connected to said movable valve element, and a steam connection between said expansible chamber and said steam supply pipe for opening said water control valve when said steam nozzles go into operation.

2. The combination with an ash conveyer system of the class described comprising a collecting receptacle having a conveyer conduit discharging therein and provided with steam nozzles discharging into said conduit, a steam pipe supplying said nozzles, a manual control valve for admitting steam to said steam supply pipe, a wash vent leading from said receptacle, a water spray nozzle discharging into said wash Vent, and a water pipe supplying said water spray nozzle, of valve control mechanism cooperatively connecting said steam and water supply pipes comprising a valve housing interposed in said water supply pipe, a valve port in said housing, a water inlet chamber on one side of the said valve port, a water outlet on the other side of said valve port, a valve controlling said port, a cylinder carried by said valve housing, a piston in said cylinder, a stem extending from said valve and connesting with said piston, a passageway connecting said Water inlet chamber With' said cylinder on one side of said piston, said. cylinder area being closed 'from said Water outlet chamber whereby said valve is normally held to its seat by the Water pressure, and a steam pipe connectin With said cylinder on the other side of said piston and having con nection with said steam supply pipe between said manual control valve and said steam nozzles.

3. A steam ash conveyer system comprising a collecting receptacle for the ashes, a conveyer conduit discharging ashes into said receptacle, a Wash vent leading from said collecting receptacle, a first spray nozzle discharging into said conveyer conduit, a second spray nozzle discharging into said 7 Wash vent, a Water supply pipe, a first branch pipe connecting said supply pipe and said first spray n0zzle,a second branch plpe connecting said supply pipe and said second spray nozzle, valve means in said branch pipes, steam nozzles discharging into said conveye-r conduit to impel the travel of ashes therethrough, a steam supply pipe connected to said steam nozzle, means for controlling the fiowof'steam through said steam supply pipes, a control valve in said Water supply pipe comprising a normally closed movable valve element, an eXpa-nsible cham her having its movable Wall connected to said movable valve element and a steam connection between said eXpansible chamber and said steam supply pipe for opening said Water control valve When said steam nozzles go into operation.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 23rd day of May, 1921.

CARL F. ZIMMERMANN.

Witnesses:

R, A. HnuMos, L. WHIrrm. 

